Software applications, operating systems, and/or services are commonly offered to consumers in the form of grouped packages or suites, in which two or more such software components are provided. Such suites are generally provided at a lower cost than the combined cost of the individual applications included therein. In addition, the software suites typically comprise an assortment of related and/or interoperable applications, operating systems, and/or services targeted to satisfy the software needs of a particular type of customer, such as small businesses. Different suites may thus be provided to satisfy various market needs, where certain segments of software consumers commonly require more than one application, operating system, or service. The suite may be provided in the form of a CDROM having the software component files (e.g., application files and/or operating system files) and a setup or installation tool, which the user employs to setup the suite on the user's computer system.
In addition to initial installation, the applications included within any particular suite package, as well as the software operating system (OS) residing in a customer's computer system, may be revised or improved from time to time, in order to provide new and/or improved features, and/or to provide new application components to an installed suite. Consumers typically are provided with such software revisions through upgrade packages. For instance, an upgrade may replace an existing software application with a newer version or revision. This may be sold to the customer in the form of a CDROM having the new application files and a setup or installation tool, which the user employs to remove the old revision and install the new one. Upgrades are usually sold for major revisions of a software application or service.
The software suite offerings may be employed in single machines, as well as in networks of computers. Some such software suites are created specifically for small business settings, in which the target purchaser has only a small number of computers networked together (e.g., less than 50). Other suites are designed to accommodate much larger network organizations, and thus provide a range of features beyond those provided in small business type software suites. For example, a small business suite may include a fixed, maximum number of client access licenses (CALs) at a fixed cost, whereas large business software suites may offer the user options to customize their license purchases.
While various software suites may be designed for different target consumer groups with differing needs, certain components (e.g., operating system and/or application components) may be common to two or more such suites. This allows the software vendors to use the same components in a variety of suites, providing economic as well as logistical advantages. For instance, an operating system component may be adapted to operate in small business software suites as well as those designed for large businesses, thus reducing the vendor costs associated with developing and supporting two different operating systems.
Because some suites cost more than others, unscrupulous users may be inclined to purchase lower cost software suites (e.g., those targeted toward small business applications) and to install one or more components thereof in system configurations for which they were not intended (e.g., in a large organization), rather than purchasing the higher cost suite package, and the licenses associated therewith. Thus, there is a need to limit the functionality of software components in lower cost suites to prevent such unintended usage and to allow proper enforcement of software licenses, particularly where the lower cost and higher cost suites include common components.
Moreover, where a common component is used in two different suites, there may be one or more setup parameters for which a user must make a decision in one such suite, whereas no decision is needed for the same component in a second suite. Thus, there is a need for setup and/or installation tools, which provide for logical, high quality setup prompting where a common component is included in two suites having different cost targets and/or functional capabilities.